Member states can integrate their Energy and Climate plans into the Common Agricultural Policy to develop sustainable and resource-efficient biomass value chains, write David Chiaramonti and Calliope Panoutsou. Sector integrated biomass policies at national level will facilitate prioritisation within geographic...

In an interview with EURACTIV's partner Le Journal de l'environnement, French socialist MEP Éric Andrieu (S&D) said that climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic make it necessary to put agriculture back at the heart of the debate and to change the agricultural model with targeted tools and resources.

It is very difficult to make EU's main farm policy greener when figures on the bottom line are red, said budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn in an attempt to uphold the latest proposal of increased spending for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The new Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy is compatible with the general thrust of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)'s proposal presented in June 2018, provided that its core aspects are confirmed in the legislative process, the European Commission has stressed in response to a query from EU lawmakers.

The European Commission has proposed boosting the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) with an extra €20 billion to support greening the EU's farming sector, using the recently unveiled Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy as a vehicle.

Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said he will recommend member states to support Poland's position to increase the budget for EU's farming subsidies by 10% than proposed by the Commission in 2018.

Linking biomass policy to key EU policy sectors such as agriculture would create a win-win situation that would help the bloc deliver its Green Deal goals and create a sustainable market, a number of stakeholders told EURACTIV.com.

As long as there are 'equal' and 'more equal' farmers within the EU, its Eastern member states will be giving up farming and abandoning rural areas, a group of 65 EU lawmakers warned in a letter addressed to the presidents of the bloc's top institutions.

As the exceptional measures taken by the European Commission have not been deemed adequate to relieve distressed agri-food markets, the idea of deploying the so far unused crisis fund, set up in the 2013 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, is coming to the fore.

There will soon come a time when the coronavirus will be nothing more but a bad memory in our lives and in our society. The conservation of our environment and our sustainable production of energy and food will continue to be key challenges for the future of the planet, writes Luis Planas.

The common goal of Spain’s circular economy implemented both at city and countryside level is to reuse waste, yet local agri-food companies and organisations are aware that this model needs to be adopted gradually in the sector. EURACTIV's partner Efe Agro reports.

The European Parliament's agriculture committee has approved a negotiating mandate for upcoming talks with national ministers on a transitional period for EU farming subsidies. It pushes back Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform until 2023.

The concept of the circular economy is gaining popularity among Spanish farmers, who are finding innovative ways to give new life to waste products and create an agricultural system based on reusing raw materials and reducing waste. EURACTIV's partner EFEAGRO reports.

Research in the food industry to achieve a circular economy is resulting in new composites, flavours and aromas from the same resources from which basic products such as wine, milk or fish are obtained. EURACTIV’s partner EFEAGRO reports.

The European strategy, which was intended to favour short distribution routes, has been postponed to a later date. However, the current COVID-19 health crisis is speeding up the agricultural sector's shift towards food self-sufficiency. EURACTIV France reports.

As the European Commission prepares to put forward an updated multi-annual financial framework proposal (MFF) next week (29 April), the agri-food sector has unanimously called for keeping post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spending at least at its current level in value and avoiding further cuts.

In a joint statement agreed last Friday (17 April), all EU-27 farm ministers called for activating the private storage aid (PSA) to support those agri-food sectors where significant market disturbances and price impacts have been assessed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee wrote a letter to the Commission on Friday (17 April), calling on the EU executive to intervene on the market so that farmers avoid further losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However, as money is scarce, the Commission is hesitating. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Agriculture sherpas rubber-stamped a partial negotiating mandate to discuss with MEPs the transition period that will allow EU farming subsidies to flow even without an agreement on post-2020 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Farmers association COPA-COGECA has backed the further postponement and debut of the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, due to mounting pressures faced by farmers over the COVID-19 outbreak, but this stance has been heavily criticised.

Environmental NGOs have accused the European Commission of "greenwashing" and cherry-picking positive messages from an EU-funded independent evaluation study about the impact of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on habitats, landscapes and biodiversity.

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